Petro-elastic interpretation of seismic impedances
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- Success in petroleum exploration and production is closely linked to correct estimation of the properties of the subsurface. Yet, the state-of-the-art technology lacks a robust deterministic approach to integrate different physical measurements, especially if their scales are different (e.g., well versus seismic data). Such consistent integration can help in interpreting seismic data for as yet unknown petrophysical properties and conditions. I have created a new methodology to estimate the rock properties (porosity and clay content) at the seismic scale from the seismically-derived impedances: petro-elastic interpretation. The basic concept behind this methodology is a rock physics phenomenon known as self-similarity where both the P- and S-wave impedances depend on the same combination of the porosity and clay content. By examining well data, I have found that this effect often does not hold, hence allowing two elastic measurements to determine two petrophysical unknowns. This discovery allows me to go from the seismic-scale impedances to desired rock properties. I tested this methodology on a dataset from NW Australia, where the interpretation results, when compared to blind-test data, fell within acceptable error bars. The first step in this methodology is to connect two procedures: rock physics diagnostics and simultaneous seismic impedance inversion. Rock physics diagnostics is a method to find the rock physics model that quantitatively describes the measured well data. Simultaneous seismic impedance inversion uses the information from well and seismic data to obtain the elastic properties that satisfy both. The second step is to take the inversion results (P- and S- wave impedances) and interpret them together to obtain the porosity and clay content at the seismic scale. One implication of this methodology lies in the importance of S-wave velocity correction and prediction, highlighting its critical role in the accurate estimation of the subsurface properties.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic; electronic resource; remote |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Publication date | 2017 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Associated with | Arevalo Lopez, Humberto Samuel, Sr |
|---|---|
| Associated with | Stanford University, Department of Geophysics. |
| Primary advisor | Mavko, Gary, 1949- |
| Thesis advisor | Mavko, Gary, 1949- |
| Thesis advisor | Levin, Stewart A |
| Thesis advisor | Zoback, Mark D |
| Advisor | Levin, Stewart A |
| Advisor | Zoback, Mark D |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Humberto Samuel Arévalo López. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Department of Geophysics. |
| Thesis | Thesis (Ph.D.)--Stanford University, 2017. |
| Location | electronic resource |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2017 by Humberto Samuel Arevalo Lopez
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
Also listed in
Loading usage metrics...